French food delivery workers to get minimum wage

Major food delivery platforms on Thursday agreed to pay delivery riders a minimum hourly wage following talks with representatives of the National Federation of Self-employed Workers.

Food delivery in Paris. AP - Michel Euler

People delivering takeaways on bikes and scooters for companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats will be paid at least 11.75 euros per hour, said the National Federation of Self-employed Workers, FNAE, which represents the riders.

That rate is slightly higher than France's legal minimum wage, which rose on 1 January to 11.27 euros before taxes and social contributions.

"This is an immediate win for delivery riders, of whom around 20 percent were below the threshold" of 11.75, FNAE president Gregoire Leclercq said.

Thursday's agreement "is a sector-wide agreement that applies to all platforms doing home delivery, those that already exist and in the future," he added.

📜Signature ce jour d'1 accord fixant 1 tarif horaire minimum et d'1 accord encadrant les ruptures des relations commerciales avec les livreurs indépendants 📷revenu minimum garanti de 11,75€ min par heure de travail effective
▶️https://t.co/djHED76hVF@ARPE_Gouv @APIasso

— FNAE (@FnaeFrance) April 20, 2023

Another self-employed people's union, Union-Independants, said it would consult members about the pay deal.

Union-Independants chiefs have already signed on to a separate agreement on the termination of riders' contracts.

"It's the end of people being arbitrarily cut off," union boss Fabian Tosolini said, with riders able to "defend themselves and contest" the platforms' decisions.

Campaign against 'uberisation'

The pay and conditions advances mark the latest step in a broader campaign against "uberisation", after worker representatives spent years complaining that the platforms were exploiting an underpaid, precarious workforce.

In January, drivers for ride-hailing platforms secured a minimum payment per trip - rather than per hour - of 7.65 euros.

UK-based Deliveroo was fined 375,000 euros by a Paris court last year, which found its riders were "undeclared workers" and should have been classified as employees - with the failure to do so depriving the state of millions in payroll taxes.

• Deliveroo in France ordered to pay substantial fine for not declaring 'gig economy' workers

"Deliveroo used a fake legal arrangement that did not correspond to the reality of how the delivery riders work," the presiding judge said in her ruling.

The company has also been ordered to pay almost 10 million euros in missed social contributions.

Deliveroo has appealed that decision.